Description of the Related Art
Many energy sources, particularly clean energy sources such as wind turbines and solar panels, generate energy that does not temporally match the load experienced. In much of the developed world, energy generation follows experienced load, such that energy is provided as needed. Under circumstances of high load, techniques such as the use of peaker generators and automatic generation control (AGC) on thermal generators allow for generation that matches high and variable load. However, despite the availability of such techniques, there are often instances where energy storage is important for meeting energy load.
Currently existing energy storage systems all have drawbacks of one form of another. Size, price, storage efficiency, efficacy, and safety are all concerns when designing an energy storage system. Generally, smaller size, lower price, reduced loss in both inputting energy for storage and extracting it for distribution, reduced losses for continuous operation, and safe disposal are all preferred characteristics of energy storage systems.
A flywheel mechanism that incorporates a rotor is one type of energy storage system that stores energy as rotational kinetic energy. A flywheel rotor is a weighted, rotationally symmetric mass that spins while physically coupled, directly or indirectly, to a motor/alternator that itself is electrically coupled to a converter, such as a back-to-back inverter system, constituting an AC-AC conversion subsystem. When power is received for storage, the rotor is driven increasing the rotational speed of the flywheel rotor. When power is to be extracted, the flywheel rotor drives the motor/alternator. The faster a flywheel rotor can spin, the more energy it can store. The amount of energy that can be stored in a flywheel rotor depends on a combination of the rotor's mass, strength properties, cyclic fatigue properties, and shape among other factors. Generally, a flywheel's bearing and suspension subsystem is designed to minimized energy losses due to friction, heat, and other loss sources.
Modern flywheel systems are heavy, complex machines that include several delicate and carefully aligned components. Assembling, transporting, and/or installing a flywheel system is a nontrivial task. Generally, the flywheel system may be assembled at the installation site, or assembled in a factory and then transported to the installation site.
If the flywheel system is assembled at the installation site, the equipment and expertise necessary for assembling the flywheel system would need to be transported to the installation site. This can be cost and space prohibitive. If the flywheel system is assembled in a factory, the assembled flywheel system would need to be transported to the installation site. Transportation of an assembled flywheel system poses risks to the assembled system as the internal components of a flywheel system may move around during transport. For instance, the flywheel rotor may shake and hit other components, damaging the rotor or the other components. In addition, motion of the rotor may cause the load experienced by the rotor's bearings to be larger than weight of the rotor. This may potentially damage the bearings.
Thus, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.